The One Where I Go To Disney World for the Tenth Time: Aug '14 TR - COMPLETE 5/21 LIFE U/D 7/7

[heathsf]

Episode 2
The One Where it's Nighttime at Art of Animation​

When we got back from Downtown Disney we decided to do some night time exploring of the resort.

Lobby:

Cars Section:
Holy cow was this gorgeous. The other sections were great too but this one in particular was like walking into Radiator Springs. Everything was right out of the film. It was unreal. S was absolutely loving it since it's his favorite movie.

Finding Nemo:

Lion King:

 

[scholastica]

I am really loving your TR so far! I can very much sympathize with a reluctant Disney fan. Your first post with the eye rolling is so perfect!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[ariane37]

Hello again and welcome home! Was wondering when you'd start your TR Other than the stormy weather, looks like your first day was good!

We stayed in a LM room for the last 3 nights of our stay in Feb. I'm the only in our house so it was my request as Ariel is my favorite. I thought the room was adorable.... but the wait did get to us, and it wasn't even hot out! We only got the Mickey head towel too, so don't feel bad On the other hand we found the bus service to be fantastic! Hope you did, too!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[Leshaface]

Oh my gosh! I would have been SO bummed about the long delay. Now it's making me anxious.. I can't even IMAGINE what to do if we get delayed like that with DS Were kids being crazy?!

What the heck is up with all these delays?! I hope this is the last I hear about delays on your TR.

Aw man! Was S even paying attention to that part of the movie?! That would have been so fun to do! I can't wait to do that to DS someday

Woah .34 miles is a loong walk. Probably not fun after a long day in the parks.

yay for DH wearing a sticker!

AoA looks AMAZING! They did such a great job. The Cars section actually reminds me of Cars Land at California Adventure!

 

[heathsf]

I will have another update coming soon. I want to download my Memory Maker photos before I start doing park updates

I am really loving your TR so far! I can very much sympathize with a reluctant Disney fan. Your first post with the eye rolling is so perfect!

Can't wait to read more!

Hi! Thank you!

I love your term "reluctant Disney fan" That's it exactly! I think those of us married to reluctant Disney fans may need our own support group/community

Hello again and welcome home! Was wondering when you'd start your TR Other than the stormy weather, looks like your first day was good!

We stayed in a LM room for the last 3 nights of our stay in Feb. I'm the only in our house so it was my request as Ariel is my favorite. I thought the room was adorable.... but the wait did get to us, and it wasn't even hot out! We only got the Mickey head towel too, so don't feel bad On the other hand we found the bus service to be fantastic! Hope you did, too!

Looking forward to reading more!

YOU'RE GOING TO DISNEY TODAY!!
I hope you have a wonderful trip!

The room really was adorable. I love the LM too and the room was super cute. Well, the whole resort was. Ugh - I wish I was there now! And we did have really good luck with the buses throughout the first half of the trip.

Oh my gosh! I would have been SO bummed about the long delay. Now it's making me anxious.. I can't even IMAGINE what to do if we get delayed like that with DS Were kids being crazy?!

What the heck is up with all these delays?! I hope this is the last I hear about delays on your TR.

Aw man! Was S even paying attention to that part of the movie?! That would have been so fun to do! I can't wait to do that to DS someday

Woah .34 miles is a loong walk. Probably not fun after a long day in the parks.

yay for DH wearing a sticker!

AoA looks AMAZING! They did such a great job. The Cars section actually reminds me of Cars Land at California Adventure!

It's funny, it didn't seem like there were a lot of people waiting to board the plane and it didn't seem like a lot of kids. I had headphones in but even while we were waiting on the plane, it was nice and quiet. And my headphones are NOT noise-cancelling. I've had some noisy neighbors on other flights and this was a surprisingly quiet flight. I imagine dealing with delays is much more stressful when you have a small child! But if our flight ended up canceled, I probably would have been throwing a bigger tantrum and crying harder than any kid on the plane

Sorry, I'm confused. Which part of the movie are you talking about (the bolded)?

Yup, it was a long walk. I don't usually mind walking but I imagine it would be tougher with a whole family in tow, and if you want to make trips back and forth to the food court it's especially annoying. But AoA was really amazing. And you're right about the Cars section, at least from what I could tell from pictures, it does seem to look like Cars Land at DCA.

 

[dmoore718]

LOVE AOA! We stayed in the Nemo suites in 2013 and are staying in CARS this January!

 

[heathsf]

LOVE AOA! We stayed in the Nemo suites in 2013 and are staying in CARS this January!

Lucky! Enjoy it! Both looked amazing from the outside! I would love to see the insides sometime

 

[heathsf]

I am in the process of downloading my Memory Maker photos and would like to write another update this afternoon after I finish running a couple of errands. In the meantime, I'll share a melty picture of the dessert I made last week when my Post-Disney Depression was still in full force.

Homemade Dole Whip!

It couldn't have been easier to make and was seriously delicious. I got the recipe here: The Disney Diner: 3-Ingredient Dole Whip Recipe

My Shop Rite didn't have pineapple sherbet so instead I bought a box of pineapple ice pops and let them soften at room temperature for a few minutes. Then I just scraped them off the sticks into the blender.

I cannot believe I did not know about the existence of this website until now. I can't wait to try more recipes!

 

[yeheyprincex2]

starting reading your TR yesterday and I am all caught up. I am a big fan of your a day in history, I am a history fan so this is falls right into my interest, plus its Disney history fun!
AoA is on my list for our next trip to WDW any of the rooms except the little mermaid rooms cause I have to boys.
I'm hoping it will be this December but I'm still trying to sweet talk my DH into it, he's a Disney fan to but keeps telling me his vacation is not yet approved and he thinks air fair prices are to high.
But I'm not giving up!

 

[heathsf]

starting reading your TR yesterday and I am all caught up. I am a big fan of your a day in history, I am a history fan so this is falls right into my interest, plus its Disney history fun!
AoA is on my list for our next trip to WDW any of the rooms except the little mermaid rooms cause I have to boys.
I'm hoping it will be this December but I'm still trying to sweet talk my DH into it, he's a Disney fan to but keeps telling me his vacation is not yet approved and he thinks air fair prices are to high.
But I'm not giving up!

Hi! I'm glad you enjoyed the countdown I had fun looking them up each day. At AoA none of the other sections will have as far of a walk as we did from LM so you will be set! Keep sweet talking your DH! Don't give up! It must be wonderful to be married to a Disney fan

 

[heathsf]

This is my 1,000th post! ​

Episode 3​

The One with the First Ride of the Trip​

After our nighttime exploration of the resort, we made plans for the morning. DHS opened at 9 and we wanted to be there by 8:15. We made a shower schedule and I volunteered to wake up the earliest to take the first shower since I knew I would be too excited to sleep. I set my alarm for 6:30 am and was actually up a few minutes before it went off. Yup, I’m a child.

I’m happy to report that we didn’t have any trouble sharing such a small space with 4 adults. Considering it was really our only option to make this trip affordable for us, we didn’t mind. As soon as I got out of the shower, M was up and ready for her turn and I finished getting ready in the vanity area outside the bathroom. Both of our DHs continued to sleep soundly. After M’s shower, she woke up S and finally DH showered last.

We were aiming to leave the room by 7:30 to grab a quick breakfast and then catch a bus and we ended up leaving at 7:33. Not bad! This may be a good time to mention that I have a recurring nightmare that I’m in WDW and a ridiculous series of events keeps me from making it to the park until hours after opening. The whole dream is just me struggling to get there and I always wake up before I can do anything in a park. The dreams never really look like WDW, but they are so stressful! I am completely crazy, right? I’ve had these dreams for years, even during times when I have no trip planned!

Anyway, we walked to the food court and it was practically empty. Yet somehow, it still took forever for everyone to get their food. Part of the problem was that we were all pretty indecisive. And most things are made to order so that took a little bit. It seems I only took one picture and it’s of DH’s breakfast sandwich because the eggs were Mickey shaped!

As cute as the sandwich was, I’m sad to report that no one enjoyed their breakfast. I had some scrambled eggs and they were downright bad. They were too wet for me and tasted weird. I couldn’t even finish them. What really stinks is that we spent a lot more time on breakfast than we had planned and didn’t get on a bus to DHS until 8:20. Now, after what I just explained about my insane Disney dreams, you might think that I was upset. But surprisingly enough, I wasn’t! We would still get there before RD, and I was just so happy to be in Disney and on our way to DHS that I didn’t care.

By 8:35 we were here!

And it was decently crowded already.

At 8:45 they opened the turnstiles and we were right up front waiting at the Sorcerer Hat for the Frozen Summer Fun opening show. When I heard that they were doing this I was seriously disappointed. I had been SO looking forward to the new (new since my last trip) RD procedure where they let people in to TSMM at 8:45. I had read many accounts of how it relieved the madness in that area first thing in the morning and made it very easy to be on and off the ride in just a few minutes. So we were there, waiting for the show, and while Olaf was cute, it wasn’t worth the craziness we would experience at TSMM.

Craziness!

We were very close to the front of the pack as everyone followed the CMs toward TSMM. I noticed that whether you lined up by the hat or around the corner by Hollywood Brown Derby didn’t matter, because the CMs wait for each other at the intersection and lead the groups together so everyone is arriving at the same time. I liked that. What I didn’t like was that there was just WAY too many people going to the same place at the same time. By the time we got to the entrance it was just a MOB trying to squeeze into the queue and there was a CM directing people to make a straight line back toward the backlot but most people weren’t listening and continuing to squeeze right into the queue, so that people who did follow instructions and standing on the line were constantly getting cut in front of by others. It was a serious mess. If you’re claustrophic, I would advise against doing this first thing in the morning. It made me physically uncomfortable and anxious. Once we were able to get into the building it was fine, and we were able to pretty much walk right through the queue with very little stopping along the way. We were inside at 9:03. I snapped a few pictures as we went.

Ready to play! And you can sort of see DH's shirt he bought the night before at World of Disney.

My excitement was through the roof at this point. We had been talking about riding this for months and now we were finally here! This is DH and S’s favorite ride. Every time we spoke about it they became more and more competitive and there had been a lot of talk of who would be the Toy Story Champion! DH claimed it would be him, and S would insist it would be him. Now it was time for them to show off their skills!

Posted on instagram:

And then it was time! Our first ride of the trip! M and I decided to ride together so that the boys could play head to head. I’m not gonna lie, I tried REALLY hard! I pulled that cord as fast as I could. My arm was exhausted after each round and my shoulder was burning.

M and I were both beavers. But I got my best score of all time! 147,300 Woohoo!

I was especially proud of my score when I saw that DH only beat me by 3,000 points with a score of 150,000. On our last trip he creamed me every time. And it turned out that S was the winner, and it wasn’t even close.

We took a bathroom break, got some water, and made our way down Sunset Boulevard toward our next destination: RnRC. On the way we stopped and took our first PhotoPass pictures of the trip. Could I be any more excited?

The photographer told us to look scared in the next one. I still just look excited though. M and S did a good job.

We arrived at RnRC at 9:40 to a posted 70 minute wait and a line that stretched all the way back past the giant red guitar. I could’ve cried. I refused to believe it. I went over to a CM and asked, “Is it REALLY 70 minutes?” and he pointed to how ridiculously far back the line went and said yes. I asked why it was so long so early and he again pointed and said, “Because of all these people.”

I still didn’t think this was typical for so early in the morning, even in the summer. I wondered if maybe it wasn’t ready to open right at opening and the line built up, but it seemed this CM wasn’t in the mood to discuss it with me. So I cried a little on the inside and then we walked over to ToT instead. I couldn’t be sad for long though because ToT is my FAVORITE plus we had a FP for RnRC for later.

So I have to explain how we were lucky enough to get a FP for both TSMM and RnRC on this day. When I booked our FP 60 days out in June, I chose TSMM as our Tier 1 attraction and ToT and GMR for Tier 2. Not long after I made the FPs, GMR changed to Tier 1. So I technically had two Tier 1 rides booked. Since GMR was now Tier 1, if I tried to change it, I was only given the option of other Tier 1 rides and was able to book RnRC. So our final FP lineup for the day was TSMM, RnRC, and ToT. Pretty solid lineup

The wait for ToT was posted as 20 minutes but it was really only 5 minutes to get into the library and then less than 5 minutes down in the boiler room.

After we checked in to the Hollywood Tower Hotel, it was time for our TSMM FP. We stopped and took a PP magic shot on our way back to Pixar Place. Apparently I’ve been spending a little too much time with Elsa!

Then it was time to find out if S could hang on to his title of Toy Story Champion!

 

[cdurham1]

Great trip report so far! Following.

 

[SkubaDis]

This may be a good time to mention that I have a recurring nightmare that I’m in WDW and a ridiculous series of events keeps me from making it to the park until hours after opening. The whole dream is just me struggling to get there and I always wake up before I can do anything in a park.

You are not alone in this. I have the same nightmares of trying to get to RD only to be waiting on my DH's family who are soooo slow. Or getting to WDW and the family wants to change the parks/days at the last minute. I usually wake up and yell at my husband. "WE ARE GETTING UP EARLY AND GETTING THERE EARLY AND WE ARE NOT WAITING ON YOUR SIBLINGS!" He's just like, "Yes, I know. You've told me." Doesn't stop the dreams though.

 

[heathsf]

Great trip report so far! Following.

Thank you! Happy to have you joining in

You are not alone in this. I have the same nightmares of trying to get to RD only to be waiting on my DH's family who are soooo slow. Or getting to WDW and the family wants to change the parks/days at the last minute. I usually wake up and yell at my husband. "WE ARE GETTING UP EARLY AND GETTING THERE EARLY AND WE ARE NOT WAITING ON YOUR SIBLINGS!" He's just like, "Yes, I know. You've told me." Doesn't stop the dreams though.

Wow! It really makes me feel better that I'm not the only one this happens to. They are nightmares! Good thing your hubby is on board Even though it doesn't stop the dreams, maybe they would be WORSE if he wasn't

 

[heathsf]

Episode 4​

The One Where Minnie Has the Hots for the Champion​

We were on our way to use our TSMM FP.

I suppose this is a good time to insert my FP+ commentary. I had a love/hate relationship with FP+. I enjoyed the fact that we didn’t have to run back and forth across the park all day long to collect FP, especially since it was so hot. I also really liked that we didn’t have to worry about securing FP first thing in the morning. We could sleep in and know that we already had FP booked for later. I didn't like that it was basically impossible to get additional FP for popular attractions, meaning we could never FP Soarin’ and Test Track on the same day, and under normal circumstances you cannot FP TSMM and RnRC on the same day. The worst part about FP+ was trying to plan so far in advance. We did make changes to our previously scheduled FP+ as the trip went on, but it was still difficult to make plans even a day or two ahead of time because we didn’t know exactly what time would work best for us. Would we decide to sleep in that day, would we take an afternoon break, etc. Not to mention, when we did decide to change plans, it is a very time consuming process on the phone app. I could go on and on about it, but I’m going to stop here. If anyone has questions, please feel free to ask. All in all, it had its pros and cons. Sometimes I was really happy with it, other times I was extremely frustrated by it. Given the choice, I would choose legacy FP. But I am not being given a choice, so we made the best of it!

Hmm, I left out some pictures that belonged in the last update. We’ll have to go back in time a little bit. Hollywood, 1939. Amdist the glitz and the glitter of a… Oops, too far! Back in time to just a few minutes before...

The time is now, on an evening very much like the one we have just witnessed. Oh, what I mean is, we’re back in present time! On to Toy Story. But wait! More pictures!

Our FP window was 10:05 – 11:05 but we arrived at 10:00 on the dot and our Mickeys turned green when we scanned our bands. So it is true that you can get in 5 minutes early. We actually ended up doing this a lot. One time we were 6 minutes early (so 1 minute early to be 5 minutes early – ha!) and the CM just waved us in anyway. I have to admit, scanning our magic bands for FP+ was an incredible amount of fun.
It never stopped being cool throughout the entire trip. Ah, Disney magic

We waited a total of 2 minutes using the FP line. This time I rode with DH.

I didn’t do as well as I did the first time. I honestly felt like I was still tired from the first game. I just didn’t have it in me. DH on the other hand, well, he was a beast. He actually sustained an injury

But he claims it was worth it, because here are our scores:

And what do you know, look at the best score this hour!

Despite the pain of his blister, DH was THRILLED to have the top score of the hour. And of course his excitement was contagious and I was just loving how happy he was. It may have cost him some skin, but we had a new champion!

As part of Frozen Summer Fun there were PhotoPass photographers set up with Frozen backdrops and then characters and/or special effects were added afterwards like with other magic shots. We took one here where Sven was added in. So when we took the picture we didn’t know exactly what it would look like. The photographer told us to look to our left, and for some reason we all looked up.

Not quite. Let’s try again.

That’s better! Next we wanted to take an animation class. We were lucky that as 4 adults we found that we all wanted to do the same thing most of the time, or at least we were all willing to go along with whatever someone else wanted to do.

We skipped the show about animation, which I really do enjoy, but I have seen it so many times I practically have it memorized and none of us was in the mood to wait for it. The line for the animation class was really long, and the CM told us if we got in line now we wouldn’t get in until the 11 o’clock class and it was only 10:20. No thanks. We decided to walk around and come back in a little bit.

Sorceror Mickey was greeting but his line was very long, which you would expect because Sorceror Mickey is awesome. There was also a long line to meet Wreck It Ralph and Vanellope. I spotted another line, but it was very short and we couldn’t see who it was for. I asked a CM and found out it was for Minnie! There were just a few people waiting for her so we jumped right in that line. We waited a little longer than I would have expected seeing as her line was so short. It turns out Minnie really likes to spend quality time with her visitors and she was well worth the wait.

From the moment we walked into her room, Minnie was all about DH. She was way more interested in him than she was in me.

See that hand she placed on my shoulder? Right after this picture was taken she moved her hand to the side of my arm and shoved me out of the picture. Yes people, Minnie Mouse pushed me. So she could do this:

And this:

I was pretty surprised by it. And it was pretty hilarious. I couldn’t resist editing the photo:

After their makeout session, M and S spent some time with her. Minnie didn’t hang on S the way she did with DH, but she did kick M out of the picture so she could take some just with S. But there was no kissing in those photos. All her kisses were for DH it seemed.

Then we took pictures with all four of us, and she was back to hanging on DH!

I told Minnie I had my eye on her, and she signaled the same back at me! Just like this:

Then as we were leaving I told her we’d see her at dinner tonight at Mickey’s and she got excited and started clapping. It was cute. We basically left there in hysterics and DH was enjoying having two wonderful women fighting over him

 

[Leshaface]

Sorry, I'm confused. Which part of the movie are you talking about (the bolded)?

Sorry I couldn't remember what I was talking about either so I had to go back...

"By far, the worst part of the video was that they show clips of people drinking the Beverly in Club Cool. Sheesh, spoiler alert, they totally ruined my plans of getting S to drink it."

It sucks that she saw that so you couldn't pull that joke on her!

I am in the process of downloading my Memory Maker photos and would like to write another update this afternoon after I finish running a couple of errands. In the meantime, I'll share a melty picture of the dessert I made last week when my Post-Disney Depression was still in full force.

Homemade Dole Whip!

It couldn't have been easier to make and was seriously delicious. I got the recipe here: The Disney Diner: 3-Ingredient Dole Whip Recipe

My Shop Rite didn't have pineapple sherbet so instead I bought a box of pineapple ice pops and let them soften at room temperature for a few minutes. Then I just scraped them off the sticks into the blender.

I cannot believe I did not know about the existence of this website until now. I can't wait to try more recipes!

Ooooh I just found this site a couple days ago on Pinterest and i'm so excited! I'm planning DS's 2ndsad2 birthday party and it's Disneyland themed and plan on making Disney desserts!



Okay on to your updates!

I've had that dream a few times while on vacation! And it wakes me up so suddenly, I can't get back to sleep so I just get ready for the day to ensure that my nightmare doesn't come true.

Iccck, I HATE runny, wet eggs unless they're supposed to be like that, like sunny side up. But scrambled eggs have to be cooked well, almost brown.

I like that the CM's meet up with their 'groups' so everyone arrives at the same time. Too bad lining up isn't more efficient. I remember a looong time ago when TSMM was the 'it' thing back at DCA, there would be a literal line to line up in to wait. So there would be one very long single line and when the park would open, CM's would take that line and walk over to TSMM and would direct that line into the queue. No running, no pushing, no cutting. It was perfect! I don't know why they can't do the same anymore.

Don't you get the best shoulder/arm workout on this ride! Geez, the burn continues even after you exit the attraction! Consider it a free souvie!

Omgosh I must be so tired...I could NOT figure out what you guys were doing in the PP picture with your arm up!I looked at it fast and the snowflake looks like sky, like there was a break in the trees! Nap time for me.

I agree with you about FP+. Did you ever secure paper FP's at all during your trip? I can't remember what the rules are regarding having a FP+ and a paper FP at the same time...I need to go back and check out the rules for that..

Dang DH got a fab score the second time around! Definitely determined!

OH MY GOSH MINNIE! What a rat!

 

[Leshaface]

OH! And I forgot to add CONGRATULATIONS to your 1000th post!

 

[heathsf]

Sorry I couldn't remember what I was talking about either so I had to go back... It sucks that she saw that so you couldn't pull that joke on her!

Ooooh yeah! I was so annoyed! Why would they spoil it? It totally ruins it

Ooooh I just found this site a couple days ago on Pinterest and i'm so excited! I'm planning DS's 2ndsad2 birthday party and it's Disneyland themed and plan on making Disney desserts!

That's awesome. Can I come to the party? I can't believe he's turning 2. I really can't. That's crazy.

Okay on to your updates!

I've had that dream a few times while on vacation! And it wakes me up so suddenly, I can't get back to sleep so I just get ready for the day to ensure that my nightmare doesn't come true.

Haha, that's an easy solution. But I have this dream all the time! In NJ! Even with no trips in sight!

Iccck, I HATE runny, wet eggs unless they're supposed to be like that, like sunny side up. But scrambled eggs have to be cooked well, almost brown.

Exactly

I like that the CM's meet up with their 'groups' so everyone arrives at the same time. Too bad lining up isn't more efficient. I remember a looong time ago when TSMM was the 'it' thing back at DCA, there would be a literal line to line up in to wait. So there would be one very long single line and when the park would open, CM's would take that line and walk over to TSMM and would direct that line into the queue. No running, no pushing, no cutting. It was perfect! I don't know why they can't do the same anymore.

That's smart. I wonder why they don't do that in WDW. From what I read, the opening early and letting people trickle in with no opening show worked really well, so I don't see why they had to have a Frozen opening show. Maybe to make sure everyone knew that there were Frozen special events happening? But honestly there were signs EVERYWHERE, I don't know how anyone could not know.

Don't you get the best shoulder/arm workout on this ride! Geez, the burn continues even after you exit the attraction! Consider it a free souvie!

Omgosh I must be so tired...I could NOT figure out what you guys were doing in the PP picture with your arm up!I looked at it fast and the snowflake looks like sky, like there was a break in the trees! Nap time for me.

I didn't see it at first either, I didn't know what I was looking for when I first looked at the photos. Nap time is always good though

I agree with you about FP+. Did you ever secure paper FP's at all during your trip? I can't remember what the rules are regarding having a FP+ and a paper FP at the same time...I need to go back and check out the rules for that..

There are no more paper FP! They are totally gone, machines removed, a thing of the past. You can now get more than 3 FP, but you have to use up all 3 and then go to a kiosk (can't do it from your phone) and add another. After that's used you can add another, and so on one at a time. The kiosk lines are not short. It was a really pain in the butt.

Dang DH got a fab score the second time around! Definitely determined!

He sure was. More on that later

OH MY GOSH MINNIE! What a rat!

OH! And I forgot to add CONGRATULATIONS to your 1000th post!

THANKS!!! What an accomplishment

 

[heathsf]

I really wanted to post an update before the weekend since I'll be away and won't get to write a new one. DH and I are going to Boston from Fri-Sun to go to a Red Sox game and get away. Today was my first day back to school, so yeah, after working 2 days I'll definitely need a vacation

Episode 5​

The One with the Frozen Cupcakes​

After meeting with Minnie, we went back to Animation Academy to wait for the next class which was at 11 o’clock. I took this picture because <3 Sherman Brothers <3.

Since a class had just started, it was a good time to go because we were able to sit on the benches right outside the room and wait instead of standing on line. We had 25 minutes until the next class though. While we were waiting we decided that since we had already ridden ToT without a wait, we would change the FP we had scheduled for 11:05 – 12:05. We wouldn’t have had any trouble making it there in time to use it, except that we were all pretty hungry already. M and S aren’t big fans of ToT (I know, there’s something wrong with them) but they know how much I love it so they insisted that DH and I go ride it and not cancel the FP. But the truth was, in that moment I was so hungry and hot, that I just didn’t feel like riding it. If only we were back in the time of being allowed to use expired FP. It wouldn’t have even been an issue.

There were no other times available for ToT so I tried to change it to Muppet Vision 3D but the app froze and I had to force close it. When I reopened the app, I found that the change had actually gone through which really annoyed me because I never confirmed my changes. It didn’t really matter because we had definitely decided to change the FP but what if I was just looking to explore my options? And then the app freezes and ToT is permanently lost! That could have been very distressing. Okay, rant over. I then changed the Muppet Vision FP to Voyage of the Little Mermaid for 1:40. (As I’m writing this and reliving this day in my head, I seriously can’t believe that I changed a ToT FP for VOTLM, that is blasphemy! )

It was time for some drawing! We drew Goofy, a first for all of us. DH gets competitive with our drawings, so I tried my very best but our teacher was going too fast for me! I couldn’t keep up with her. I think I did pretty well until the very end. I totally missed her directions for the eyes and then the projector turned off before I was done. So I just made pupils as I saw fit. I warn you, Goofy looks a little crazy.

DH, M, and S all said to me, “Didn’t you listen to her explain that the eyes aren’t completely round on the bottom and blah blah blah...” Um no, I didn’t listen because I was still making his hat when she was talking about the eyes

I took pictures of M and S’s work while DH was still finishing up his masterpiece.

DH hard at work:
(He even put his glasses on!)

And his finished product:

It was definitely lunch time for us. We were hungry. But we also wanted to pick up tickets for the Frozen Sing Along so we made our way to the Streets of America and scoped out places for lunch. We got tickets for the 2:30 show and decided to eat lunch at the Backlot Express.

The CM who took our order was awesome. He was very funny and helpful. How was he helpful? By informing us that the gigantic Frozen cupcakes were a dessert option when using a counter service credit on the dining plan! I did a double take. Say WHAT!? Those enormous cupcakes are included! No way! I didn’t believe him. I thought he was mistaken. You wouldn’t believe how excited we all got.

This lunch was awesome. S and I both got chicken nuggets with buffalo sauce. So simple, yet so delicious! These nuggets were awesome. Fried perfectly with a good amount of sauce and just the right amount of spicy. I also used ranch dressing for dipping. It also came with fries which were yummy.

M got regular chicken nuggets. DH got a bacon cheeseburger with tasty onion crispies on it. He kept blocking my pictures and this was the best I could get. He’s obnoxious and I was too hungry to keep working for a better one.

For dessert we got one of each cupcake. Ana is chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, Elsa is vanilla cake with buttercream frosting, and Olaf is carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

I, clearly the smartest person in the group, got the Olaf. Before I could eat him I had to take a picture since he was on my shirt.

And then I dug in. Holy smokes was Olaf tasty. Delicious cake. Amazing frosting. This was a perfect cupcake. I could cry over the fact that I can’t eat this right now. Oh. My. God. I don’t know how to communicate how much I loved this cupcake. I wasn’t able to finish the whole thing but dang, I wanted to.

Look at how cute this is. The frosting is her dress.

DH had Ana. He was more interested in putting on a show for our 3 year old niece who loves Frozen than actually eating it though. First, a picture to send to my SIL.

Then, a video:
(click the picture)

He didn’t eat any more than that. I declare my cupcake to be the best. If you like carrot cake, Olaf is the sure bet.

Once my hunger was taken care of, I started noticing all the cool props around the restaurant. And what do you know, the “car” that Bob Hoskins <3 drove in Who Framed Roger Rabbit is right next to our table! This is the contraption he drove for filming so that Benny could be added in after. Then there were two photographs on the wall showing this. I LOVE Who Framed Roger Rabbit so I was gushing over this like it was a movie star. It was just SO cool!

Oh Bob. RIP.

What should we do now that we finished stuffing our faces? How about an upside down roller coaster? Sounds good!

The standby line wasn’t overflowing out of the queue like it was this morning.

With FP we went right into the pre-show, then asked the CM if we could wait for the first two rows. We only had to wait for one extra super-stretch limo before we could ride in the front. It was awesome. Even better than I remembered it. Besides the front row being great because it’s the front, it’s a lot less jerky up there. We had a blast and were back outside just 20 minutes after we first got in line. Okay FP+, I like you right now

 

[Leshaface]

There are no more paper FP! They are totally gone, machines removed, a thing of the past. You can now get more than 3 FP, but you have to use up all 3 and then go to a kiosk (can't do it from your phone) and add another. After that's used you can add another, and so on one at a time. The kiosk lines are not short. It was a really pain in the butt.

WHAAAT?! I've seriously been living under a rock this past year. I had NO idea they got rid of the machines

Okay so when you go to make FP+ reservations online, you get 3 FP's per day for one park only right? And when you use up all 3 of those FP ADR's, to get more, you have to go up to a kiosk at an attraction to get more? Do they add it to your bands? And can you only do one attraction at a time? Does every ride that used to have a FP have this kiosk? Sorry if i'm making it more difficult than it is, but i'm really super bummed now.


Your Goofy looks a little strung out! But you did a really great job on everything else. So did everyone else in your party. Great job!

Dang, seeing you actually hold the cupcake really shows how massive it is! Looks so yummy and i'm a big fan of carrot cake!

DH in the video!

So cool that they have the vehicle in the restaurant! I love that movie too. I also liked him in Hook. Two amazing actors from that movie passed