Some people ARE worth melting for ….. 40 Disney days – the trip of a lifetime updated October 10

[franandaj]

I am very sorry to keep you all waiting, especially since I have typed a few more days already, but unfortunately it is that time of year ...... exams! I thought I might be able to update today, but marking and grading one class' exams took far longer than I expected (and I am still not done) and there will be another exam tomorrow. But I'll try my best to update tomorrow. Too late today (it's already 10pm here). Keep your fingers crossed that I can fit it in tomorrow.

Please do not feel pressured to update on the account of folks here, do what you need! I just got caught up today and then someone else posted an update! I'm never going to get caught up!

 

[momof3princes]

All caught up again! You are having a great trip and I am loving following along with you, the way you write makes me feel like we are along with you and Tom!
The Safari looked so fun and Frozen Ever After you seem to have timed perfectly!
Hope your exams and grading goes well

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Don't worry Karen. I am always behind, and still have not finished mine. I may just add real life and Disneyland,b then move on to Aulani. who am I kidfing?

 

[Pinkocto]

Please do not feel pressured to update on the account of folks here, do what you need!

sorry work has been so busy

 

[englishrose47]

So, here it is! I guess there are quite a few of you who already know us and are aware of the fact that we usually take longer trips, well, this time we really took a long trip – the trip of a lifetime.

And here we go again ….. another one of my TRs. But this one is extra special.

First off, it was a loooooooong trip.

It was a trip that combined DL, WDW and DCL, something we had not done before.

And, it was a trip that was pixie-dusted by the presence of some awesome, awesome DISfriends.

Who is going on the trip:

Well, two 50 somethings, who refuse to grow up.

Tom has just retired from his job as a postman with the Austrian PO. This trip was kind of a celebration of that even.

He loves all things Disney and is very crafty when it comes to the computer and designing logos and magnets for our travels.

Well, myself, Karin, I am still working as a teacher in a small village near where we live. We did not grow up immersed in all things Disney, but we did read the Mickey Mouse comics. Only later in live, while visiting California we decided to spend a day at the “kiddy park” that is Disneyland and discovering that it was NOT a park for just kids we head over heals fell in love with it and instead of spending just one day, we cancelled a hotel stay and just added two more Disney days. Ever since most of our travels have been Disney themed.

And you will come across some WONDERFUL DISfriends who we had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with this trip.


How this trip came to be:


We usually take one or two Walt Disney World trips a year. Well, that might not be so uncommon but given that we travel from Europe it is pretty special to us.

In 2014 we only took one week long trip to WDW and during the summer we took the “cruise from hell” on the Disney Magic to save some vacation money for the next year. Well, what a foolish idea! That cruise was the most expensive thing ever.

For 2015 we had planned a 10 day trip for Tom’s 50th birthday and a back to back Fantasy cruise and some WDW days for the summer. We did take the 10 day trip, but Tom had to go on sick leave for most of the year because of his back pain, so we had to cancel the other trip.

Therefore we were planning a nice long trip for 2016. We wanted to stay at WDW, then a back to back Dream cruise and one on the Fantasy with a few WDW days at the end. I added days here and there and we ended up with 5 ½ weeks of travel time – 40 days in all.

Then shortly after the new DCL itineraries were released I got an email from a very good friend, letting me know that there might be a chance for us to go on the Disney Wonder’s Panama Canal crossing. We checked the dates and cancelled our Dream cruises and changed the Fantasy one to the PC cruise on the Wonder. The problem now – we needed to get to the West Coast. And you cannot go to California without visiting Disneyland, can you? So we juggled days around and ended up this:


The trip of a lifetime:

This was one of our longest trips and the only one that was all Disney (even though we had 2 nights in Las Vegas, but we went to a Disney store – so I guess that counts as well).

August 3 – 18 WDW
(Bay Lake Tower, Yacht Club, Kidani, Old Key West and back to Bay Lake Tower)

August 18 – 20 Las Vegas
(With a Disney connection as one needs to visit the Disney Store)

August 20 – 26 Disneyland

August 26 – September 9 Panama Canal crossing on the Disney Wonder

September 9 – 10 one more night at the Yacht Club before going home.

40 days in all – the trip of a lifetime.


But it was not the trip or the destinations that made it so special. It was the people we met and were able to spend time with while on vacation. So, thank you,


Michelle and family

Jen and family

Alisha, Dan and little Quentin

Alison and Fran

Pamela and Jeanette

Jeff and family

Stefy and Dave


and all those friends who were nice enough to follow us around and comment on the trip on another social media site during our trip and shared our excitement.


Thank you all for making our trip the best one EVER!!!!


​

Trip report chapters:
Day 1, August 3:
Here we go again - Part 1
Here we go again - Part 2
Here we go again - Part 3

Day 2, August 4:
An early morning and an early night - Part 1
An early morning and an early night - Part 2

Day 3, August 5:
So good to see you again! - Part 1
So good to see you again! - Part 2

Day 4, August 6:
Two for the price of one! - Part 1
Two for the price of one! - Part 2
Two for the price of one! - Part 3
Two for the price of one! - Part 4

Day 5, August 7:
Even Sundays are busy at Disney - Part 1
Even Sundays are busy at Disney - Part 2

Day 6, August 8:
Welcome to Kidani - Part 1
Welcome to Kidani - Part 2
Welcome to Kidani - Part 3
Welcome to Kidani - Part 4

Day 7, August 9:
Lazy day gone busy - Part 1
Lazy day gone busy - Part 2
Lazy day gone busy - Part 3
Lazy day gone busy - Part 4

Day 8, August 10:
High Score!! - Part 1
High Score!! - Part 2
High Score!! - Part 3
High Score!! - Part 4

Day 9, August 11:
An A for effort - Part 1
An A for effort - Part 2
An A for effort - Part 3
An A for effort - Part 4

Day 10, August 12:
Home away from home - Part 1
Home away from home - Part 2
Home away from home - Part 3
Home away from home - Part 4

Day 11, August 13:
Day 12, August 14:
Day 13, August 15:
Day 14, August 16:
Day 15, August 17:
Day 16, August 18:
Day 17, August 19:
Day 18, August 20:
Day 19, August 21:
Day 20, August 22:
Day 21, August 23:
Day 22, August 24:
Day 23, August 25:
Day 24, August 26:
Day 25, August 27:
Day 26, August 28:
Day 27, August 29:
Day 28, August 30:
Day 29, August 31:
Day 30, September 1:
Day 31, September 2:
Day 32, September 3:
Day 33, September 4:
Day 34, September 5:
Day 35, September 6:
Day 36, September 7:
Day 37, September 8:
Day 38, September 9:
Day 39, September 10:
Day 40, September 11:

​

Subbing !!!

 

[kittymamma]

Karen, recently I submitted a post expressing that I was anxious for an update on your TR. Later there was a responding post saying "please do not feel pressured to update on account of folks here , do what you need", which startled me (since I was obviously that "folk" ). Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I was pressuring you and that certainly was not my intention. To me , it was letting you know that there is someone out here who delights in reading of your adventures and is looking forward to the next installment. Much better than us "folks" not giving a rats patoot whether you continue or not. Like waiting for your favorite author to publish another novel....same thing. Oh well, I guess I don't understand how this DIS stuff works and should probably stick to the joy of reading and let the posting fall to others but I did want to say how sorry I am if YOU did indeed feel pressure from a loyal reader of your TR's.

 

[franandaj]

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I was pressuring you and that certainly was not my intention. To me , it was letting you know that there is someone out here who delights in reading of your adventures and is looking forward to the next installment.

Please don't think that I was in any way inferring that you were placing pressure on Karin to update sooner. One thing that often gets lost in online conversation is "sense of humor". Often times a running joke on the DIS is how far behind we all get when reading each other's trip reports. Maybe I should have placed more smileys and such in the post. . My response was meant to be "tongue in cheek", and not implying anyone exerting real or undue pressure.

As long as I have known Karin, she has commented about how she is always playing catch up. I'm sorry if my comments were taken in the wrong light, it was merely in jest as I am so far behind, and haven't updated my current TR in over three weeks, and I still have several more to comment on before I'm caught up!

 

[kittymamma]

It's all good.....thanks !!

 

[dizneeat]

Trying to catch up on my own TR.
The last two weeks were pretty busy. Around that time of year there is the first set of exams. Now, I teach a form 1, which is just starting and their first big exam is only in January, but my form 4 had their first big Engish exam of the year and they went through with flying colours (knowing how their teacher "ticks" seems to help a lot. ). But then I "inherited" a form 3 from our new headmistress and they are SO lazy. The exam came and went and the results were so bad we had to do it again. Twice the workload, thank you very much. Now their second "try" is next week and I have been brooding over how to structure their exam. It was a lot of work and there is more in the future, but at least they (my form 3) have now realized that the only way is to sit down and study.

The other obstacle are two students that are doing their training at our school at the moment. I am their mentor/go to teacher and it is a lot more work than I expected, especially since one of them is not cut out to be a teacher at all. It is going to be an interesting three more weeks.

But I am here now, trying to catch up on your replies and then we are on to an update.

You and Tom were able to squeeze a lot in that evening, what fun! I really enjoyed the new Frozen ride. I left with a huge smile on my face. That Olaf is too cute. It didn't occur to me that the normal queue is worth seeing.

We were amazed at how easy it was to get on rides, even big ones. It was so much fun.
The Frozen ride was cute, but I would not queue up for several hours for it. I guess once the hype dies down a bit we'll walk through the regular line again - otherwise, I really would need a FP for it.

I just found your report last night and caught up today. I am loving it! I guess I now have to be patient like everyone else for the next part. Can't wait till you make it to Disneyland which is the park I am familiar with.

Great to have you on board. Sorry for the long time with no updates, but as I stated above - it was pretty busy here. We'll get to DL soon. We had a blast there.

Loving your review - thanks! Can't wait to read more!

Great to have you here. More coming up pretty soon.

You got a lot of rides done there in the after hours. The waits were not bad at all. I had forgotten that you were switched to Kidani and I wondered why you weren't going back to the Yacht Club!

It was so easy to get on rides, it was just incredible. And we got into the Frozen line just at the right time. It was fun to see the area in less than a few hours.
No problem being mixed up about where we were staying - it sometimes got me guessing as well.

 

[dizneeat]

I'm a little late to this party, but loving your TR so far. I can't imagine doing a trip that long all over Disney...how amazing!! Looking forward to hearing about the rest of it!!

Great to have you! You are not late at all, there is lots more to come.
It was an awesome and super long trip. We usually stay at Disney for 3 - 5 weeks, but this coast to coast was super exciting and full of magical memories and friends.

Looks like a nice time at Epcot. I love living with the land. Only 4 minutes for Soarin Wow!

It was a fun evening at Epcot. Hey, Living with the Land is one of our favourite rides as well. We really need to do that Behind the Seeds tour again - even more fun than the boatride. We could not believe the 4 minute wait for Soarin', but that is what it was.

Krispy Kreme, KFC, and Beaches and Cream all in one day?

Please adopt me.

to my world!

HOW FUN for you to have an unexpected DISmeet!

We felt like celebrities being asked to have our photo taken with them. It was so much fun!

The treat shop at the park looks yummy and fun

It was fun seeing some "other" goodies than the normal ones. We did not buy anything but it was an interesting sight.

Of course B&C is always a nice treat!

Did you find the geocache? Or was it really a beer?

He actually found and logged it! The beer was his "reward" to himself.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi following here! Just binge-read your TR, what a great trip so far.

It was a fun trip indeed and there were a lot of new things in store for us.

We were there this August and frozen ever after was down every time we had a fast pass. My daughter was so disappointed not to get to ride it.

We were there in August as well and Frozen was down pretty often. I had only made one fast pass for it during our whole trip and we had given it up to do something else, so stumbling right into that line was a win win for us. Sorry your daughter did not get to see it - it is a fun little ride.

Love your pictures. Your pictures of Kidani are bringing back memories of when we stayed there 5 years ago.

We had been to Jambo House before, but never stayed at Kidani and we really enjoyed our stay there. It is a wonderful resort.

Looking foward to reading more. Marina

Should not take much longer.

Catching up! Dis is giving me grief and keeps crashing each day so it took me a while. Loving the trip so far.

Catching up is fine with me. Did the same earlier today. For me it was not the DIS that gave me grief, but Photobucket, which was down for a pretty extended period of time some time ago. I would have been able to update then, but without photobucket - no such thing.
Glad you enjoy the trip so far.

What subject you teach? English?

Yes, I teach English. And geography, art and needlework and home economics.

I remember you telling us once but it has slipped my mind. I certainly know how "grading stress" feels. I have six classes this semester. I supposed to have four but we had someone quit at the last minute. Personally I was glad the new hire quit, he was assigned a cubicle across from me and he liked to bathe in cologne. Since I have asthma, it was creating a problem. Another "oldie" and I split his load so it all worked out without it hurting the students who had signed up for his classes.

Oh my, that sounds like something. We don't have cubicles, but a large teachers' room where everyone owns HALF a desk, I tell you, I am happy to go home and work there - at school it is just not possible. But then, we are free to leave after we have done our lessons, so some days I am at school for just two hours, but then it is on to working from home.

I just gave a final last week, graded it this weekend, have another final in two weeks and then four finals two weeks later. The class start dates were spread out over four weeks so my head is spinning. Our semester break starts in mid-December but break time is when I do the scheduling and staffing of classes for our program (one of the hats I wear). Good think I like my job. And during break, I can work from home. Always a bonus.

As I mentioned in the first of my response posts, I need to repeat one of the tests.
We started in mid September and our semester goes into February, when we have a one week break (we get two weeks off for Christmas as well) and I cannot wait for that time. Even after such a long and exciting vacation I really can feel the strain that the new school year is giving me.

All caught up again! You are having a great trip and I am loving following along with you, the way you write makes me feel like we are along with you and Tom!

for being caught up again. We had a lot of fun and it got even better, can you imagine. And thanks for your kind remarks about my writing skills.

The Safari looked so fun and Frozen Ever After you seem to have timed perfectly!

The Safari was awesome - just a special, special treat. I would do it again in a heartbeat. And we were SO lucky with Frozen Ever After. We could not believe how lucky we had been when we got off it.

 

[dizneeat]

Don't worry Karen. I am always behind, and still have not finished mine. I may just add real life and Disneyland,b then move on to Aulani. who am I kidfing?

I am very thankful some of us don't "rush" through their TRs. It would make me fall even further behind. Please, just add your other trips to your TR. I think I am up to date with it.

sorry work has been so busy

I am nearly through with it for a while, thank god! Hoping to catch up with everyones TRs again.

Subbing !!!

Rosie!
I am super glad you found us.
Any news on you becoming a great grandma?

It's all good.....thanks !!

I am glad we could clear things up. I googled the house you asked me about in your PM, but did not find any information, so I guess it is no longer there. Vienna is a way away from where we live, so it was interesting to read about that. (My kitty, Princess TinkerBell, sends her love to your kitty )
And finally we can go on with the TR.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 8, August 10

High Score!! - Part 1

Again, we slept in a little and got up around 8am.
We were able to fix breakfast with the groceries we had bought the day before. Tom made some coffee and we had sandwiches with it. There were quite a few animals roaming the savannah already,

so we sat on the balcony for a while before we decided to head out. Around 10.30 we started the long trek along the hallway

and then down to the car and off we went to drive to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. On the way there we joked about the fact that we had always had been “lucky” to start a new row at the Studios and guess what, today was no exception. When we headed towards the line of already parked cars we could see that there were only a few spots close to the tram stop left and again, we were the lucky ones to start a new row at the very end of the parking lot. Going around and trying again crossed our mind, but then we just gave in and parked in the very last spot of that long row.

We got our things out and started to hike down to the tram, which pulled away just as we got close to it, but another one was coming in within a minute or two and we quickly found a seat and waited for the tram to take us to the entrance. We sat there for a few minutes, but then we were off and since we had a really fun cast member standing in the back of the tram we all laughed a lot on our way to the park. When we arrived we could see that buses had just arrived and people were streaming to bag check which already had quite the line and a boat had arrived as well. What to do? Well, we turned around, walked back towards the parking area, crossed the tram line and walked back to the park on the other side, where we went right through the security check point with no one in front of us, then made a restroom stop and headed for the entrance. We might have gotten through bag check in the time it had taken us to do all this, but at least we were not stuck in the crowd. By the time we walked towards the Chinese Theatre

we were way inside our first FastPass window, but we were in no particular hurry. We strolled through the stores and found some fun merchandise and then we headed towards Toy Story Mania.

When we got there it was just opening up after being down and people were streaming to the stand by entrance and there was even a line at the FastPass entrance. Once we got inside we could see that the standby area was partly empty but if started filling up again.

Soon we were on the stairs up to the ride and it did not take long and we got into our ride vehicle.

We both really like the ride and as always Tom beat me and his score was way better than mine, but we both got the same animal at the end. Not that bad after all. When we got off we had close to two hours to kill until our next FastPass and we were still thinking of what to do when we came by the Hollywood Brown Derby. I had wanted to try out the Lounge, but it was still closed.

We looked at the sign and found out it would open in just 5 minutes, so we hung around and when they finally let people in we were within the first ones to enter.

To be continued ....​

 

[kittymamma]

The house was actually a building , about 8 stories , on "ring road". The side was painted to look as if it had a lot of windows with cats at each window in various stages of relaxation. I will have to dig around for the photo I took. Since it was so long ago , you are probably correct that it is no longer there. Thanks for checking .

 

[dizneeat]

The house was actually a building , about 8 stories , on "ring road". The side was painted to look as if it had a lot of windows with cats at each window in various stages of relaxation. I will have to dig around for the photo I took. Since it was so long ago , you are probably correct that it is no longer there. Thanks for checking .

I am taking my class to Vienna in April and Ringstrasse is one of the places we will go to - I will have the kiddos have to look for that house/building.

Okay, it is midnight here, so time for bed. Another update tomorrow.

 

[KathyM2]

I guess that is one bonus to FP+...you can show up at 10:30 and still get to ride TSMM lol. Fun day so far! Even with the parking kerfuffle lol

 

[Joyce T. Powell]

Day 2, August 04

An early morning and an early night - Part 2

There were several available and when we sat down we were surprised to see that it had started to rain.

Well, not quite rain, it was pouring down.
So we took our sweet time to enjoy our lunch. We had ordered a cup of

New England Clam Chowder and the

Battered Fish Plate served with coleslaw and french fries. And after we had eaten we checked our messages and posted some photos until the rain had subsided.
We headed out again into the sunshine and walked right onto our first FP+ of the day, Peter Pan’s Flight.
The regular line was pretty long and so was the FP line, but it moved quickly and we were soon flying over London. When we got off it was already time to head over to the next FP of the day, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Again, we were so lucky to be in the FP line as the regular line was over an hour long.

Tom asked for last row again and we were granted our wish and soon found ourselves laughing as we rode that fun runaway mine train.
We still had quite some time left until our next ride, so we started strolling towards Pecos Bill, but then decided to head up to the train as it was just rolling in.

I didn’t think we would make it on that train, but we did and with a little time to spare, but soon we were on our way to Fantasyland.

When we got off we strolled through the Big Tent, watched people ride Dumbo and then finally walked over to the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

We really enjoyed the convenience of the FP, and again were on the ride within just a few minutes. Once we got off the ride we decided to leave the park for now. But not without a ride on our favourite ride, the People Mover. And this time it was up and running and we enjoyed our trip around Tomorrowland.

After that we returned to our room, relaxed for some time and then went to our car to go and do some shopping.

First off we went to Walgreens for some medications we needed and our next stop was Publix. We stocked up on beers and soft drinks and some staple food items and a few things we still needed for the fish extender on the cruise. While we were inside Publix the skies had turned grey again and we headed straight back to our resort after finishing our shopping.

Luckily we made it to our room without getting wet. We were both pretty tired, so after putting away our groceries we took a short nap. When we got up again we could see that it had been raining again and by now it was time for dinner. We put our groceries out on the table, made some salad and had some sandwiches.

We even shared a small slice of cake for dessert. Tired as we were we thought about ditching the FP that we had been able to score earlier that day, a FP for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. But then we knew that we wanted to ride it again, so we got dressed, put on our Magic Bands and this time without any bags headed over to the Magic Kingdom. We walked right over to Big Thunder Mountain, passed all the people in the standby line, got on and had a blast while riding this fun ride.
Once we got off, we strolled right towards the exit again, waved goodbye to the castle for the day and went right back to our hotel room. We were both dead tired and decided that it was time to catch up on much needed sleep, especially since the next day we wanted to be at the Magic Kingdom for Morning Extra Magic Hours and lateron meet with our friend Michelle, her daughter Angelina and Hannah, Michelle’s son’s girlfriend.


To be continued ....​

Hello! Long time lurker here, just wanted to say how much I have enjoyed reading your various TR's. You have an excellent way w/words. For some reason I can't quite explain I think it's really cool that you and Tom enjoy your snacks & casual foods from Publix as well as WDW dining. I love my Publix sweet tea lol. Anyway, thanks for sharing your memories! xoxo

 

[Pinkocto]

Look at those beautiful zebras! Those hallways at Kidani are very very long. I've heard the BW are even worse.

The artwork at the AK resorts is so cool.

Is there another back check at HS that I don't know about?

I think the only thing good about being at the end of the row is your car is easily found.


Oh my about having to give those students a second exam. Not fun.

 

[momof3princes]

Looking forward to seeing how your Brown Derby experience was, that place always seems all over the place service wise.
When we go on Toy Story Mania I am the one that sits in the middle and observes, I don't think I would do very well anyway

 

[Shellyred8]

How was the cake? I've often thought about getting one, but haven't done it yet.