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

[princess_momma]

OMG you are hilarious! I love your love of Disney and also your crazy-planning tools to try to get everyone involved! I am the same way. One year when I went with my friends, we were deciding which restaurants to try and I ended up typing over a half dozen paged document on EVERY SINGLE restaurant. Filled with info and tons of cheesy lingo..."Take your tastebuds on an adventure with the flavors of Africa at Jiko!"

I love reading about your trip! It is so nice that you have friends who are willing to go with you and love Disney like you! It's always so fun with friends!

 

[scholastica]

Those cupcakes look so so good! Your HS day so far sounds like so much fun!

 

[ariane37]

Hello Hello hi! Just back from our trip and I'm catching up! HS is my favorite park so I'm really enjoying this part of your report As much as I love it I do agree with you on a couple points. First, I also am not a fan of the new opening show/procedure there. The opening show is just not worth the lost time. It was so nice the last few years not having to run anywhere and worry about getting pushed or shoved. Second - I too long for legacy FP Older DS and I used to quick-casually walk to RnRc and ride twice before grabbing a FP while DH and younger DS would do the same on TSMM. While FP+ didn't bother me so much in Feb., it most definitely cut down on our rides last month. By the time we were out of RnRc/TSMM the first time, the stand by lines were over 45 minutes for both and we don't wait more than 20 minutes.........however, neither of these is enough to ruin our Disney trips

That is hysterical about Minnie Mouse! Now honestly, didn't a small part of you wonder who was under there??

Finally, there's just one thing you wrote that I don't quite understand. You say your friends don't like TOT? I believe I read that.......but.......my brain just can't seem to process it.............

 

[heathsf]

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.

Everything you said is right except the kiosk. They're not located at each attraction. There are a few scattered throughout each park and you can book a FP+ for any attraction (that's available) at any of them. Not *everything* in the park is included, but there are many more options than there were for Legacy FP. So you don't have to walk all the way to Splash Mountain to book a FP+, you could do it at any kiosk in the park. Yes, it goes on your band, and yes only one a time.

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!

Huge and delicious. Spoiler alert: I liked it better than the carrot cake cookie from Writer's Stop

DH in the video!

Yup. My DH. Our niece loved it too. Apparently she was hysterical and asked my SIL to play it a hundred times.

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

Agree on all counts.

OMG you are hilarious! I love your love of Disney and also your crazy-planning tools to try to get everyone involved! I am the same way. One year when I went with my friends, we were deciding which restaurants to try and I ended up typing over a half dozen paged document on EVERY SINGLE restaurant. Filled with info and tons of cheesy lingo..."Take your tastebuds on an adventure with the flavors of Africa at Jiko!"

I love reading about your trip! It is so nice that you have friends who are willing to go with you and love Disney like you! It's always so fun with friends!

Thank you!!! Your comment made my day
I think we could be great friends... The restaurant document sounds exactly like what I did 3 years ago for DH's first trip. I really wanted him to be part of the restaurant-picking process so I typed up info and reviews on each restaurant I wanted him to consider. I love that you used cheesy lingo.

Those cupcakes look so so good! Your HS day so far sounds like so much fun!

It was and they were

Hello Hello hi! Just back from our trip and I'm catching up! HS is my favorite park so I'm really enjoying this part of your report As much as I love it I do agree with you on a couple points. First, I also am not a fan of the new opening show/procedure there. The opening show is just not worth the lost time. It was so nice the last few years not having to run anywhere and worry about getting pushed or shoved. Second - I too long for legacy FP Older DS and I used to quick-casually walk to RnRc and ride twice before grabbing a FP while DH and younger DS would do the same on TSMM. While FP+ didn't bother me so much in Feb., it most definitely cut down on our rides last month. By the time we were out of RnRc/TSMM the first time, the stand by lines were over 45 minutes for both and we don't wait more than 20 minutes.........however, neither of these is enough to ruin our Disney trips

That is hysterical about Minnie Mouse! Now honestly, didn't a small part of you wonder who was under there??

Finally, there's just one thing you wrote that I don't quite understand. You say your friends don't like TOT? I believe I read that.......but.......my brain just can't seem to process it.............

Welcome back! I hope your trip was wonderful!

We actually did have a conversation about who may have been friends with Minnie

about ToT You are right on

 

[heathsf]

Episode 6​

The One Where We Sing Along​

After an awesome ride on RNRC we had a few minutes to spare before our FP for Voyage of the Little Mermaid. We walked through a few shops to browse but mostly so we could be in the air conditioning. It was HOT.

The FP return time for VOLM was a little different than the other rides. It was a only a 20 minute window. We showed up toward the end of our window so we could limit our waiting time as much as possible. We timed it pretty well and only waited two minutes before going in to the theater. The CMs made their usual announcement about moving all the way to the end of the row so that there would be room for everyone, but two women in the row in front of us sat down smack in the middle of their row, leaving half the row empty in front of them. The people behind them asked them nicely to keep moving down and they completely ignored them. They didn’t even turn their heads to acknowledge that anyone was talking to them. Then more people started chiming in for them to move down as the mob of people stuck behind them grew bigger. Then the woman who was right behind them started to really lose her patience and started yelling and gesturing for them to move down. They still didn’t look up, make eye contact, or anything! I wondered if maybe they didn’t speak English but thought it was strange that they wouldn’t even be looking for the source of all the yelling. Finally the woman gave up and climbed over them just as a CM walked over to intervene. As soon as he asked them to move down to the end of the row, they got up and moved. Um, what just happened? It was bizarre, and slightly uncomfortable to witness.

But now we were ready to go on a voyage with Ariel! The first and last time I had done this was on a trip with my mom in 2011. Neither of us liked it very much. So I went in to it not remembering very much but with low expectations. I have no idea if it has changed since then or what, but I really, really enjoyed this! It was super cute and I’m really glad I gave it another chance. DH liked the first scene a lot, but didn’t care much for it after that. M and S really liked it though.

Now it was time for the Frozen Sing Along! Our ticket told us to return between 1:50 and 2:20 for the 2:30 show. If you return after the window you aren’t guaranteed a seat. We got there at 2:05.

The line was LLLOOONNNGGG and winding and outdoors in the Streets of America. We had no idea how far down the line was going to go when we got on. There were umbrellas set up along the way but it was still very uncomfortable even under the umbrella. And if you were caught between umbrellas in the sun, forget about it. You would melt into a puddle faster than Olaf in front of a fireplace. Holy cow was it hot. We were borderline miserable as we waited. And when the line finally started moving it just went on and on and on and on and on and on and on and…you get the point. But it kept going even more after that! By the time we got into the theater our choice in seats was all the way on the side with a partially blocked view of the stage or way in the back in the bleachers (with no seat backs). We chose the bleachers which was fine, and we had a decent view (although far from the stage). Not long after we were seated the entire theater was full and people were still flowing in! CMs actually had to stop a huge mob of people and turn them around and send them back outside! Oops! I felt so bad for those people.

The Sing Along was quite possibly the cutest thing ever. I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re not a fan of Frozen (duh - it is called the "FROZEN Sing Along after all ). But if you are, it was awesome. Sitting in the back and watching all these little kids in front of us singing along to every word and dancing in their seats was absolutely adorable. We had a ton of fun and even sang along to some of the songs, DH included. He seemed to really be enjoying it.

For the sing along part they played the musical scenes from the movie. In between the songs the characters were on the stage.

Next we did the Backlot Tour. It had a 10 minute posted wait but we really waited 2. In those short two minutes, we were standing against the railing and someone walked right into me! I wasn’t even moving! By the time I looked up, he was way past me. He just kept walking as though I didn’t exist. Oh well. Two minutes went by quick and then we went in.

Funny enough, M, S, and DH had never watched the first part as audience members, they’ve only ever been in it! So it was kind of a first for them

More Roger Rabbit!

Afterwards we breezed through the American Film Institute Showcase since we’d all seen it before. I read online afterwards that it closed permanently a few days after this, so now I’m sorry I didn’t take the time to look through it one last time

We were so hot and tired we decided to leave the park. We got on a CR bus at 4:00, an hour before our Chef Mickey ADR.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 7​

The One Where Mickey Cooks Dinner​

We had left DHS with plenty of time to spare and arrived at The Contemporary 30 minutes before our ADR time. DH spotted some comfy looking couches right away and flopped onto them and took a nap I didn’t sprawl out and lie down like he did, but I was comfy sitting and relaxing for a while. M and S decided to do some browsing in the stores and we agreed to meet at Chef Mickey’s a little before 5 which was our ADR time. By the time we got up there, they had already checked in and had a buzzer. We had to wait a bit past 5 but soon we were seated and ready to start mingling with our famous friends. The restaurant was empty when we got there but it filled up very quickly.

I surprised myself with how excited and giddy I was to meet characters. It’s not usually my thing. It was M and S’s idea to eat here because they love it, and I had actually only been here once before on my very first trip as a 3 year old. So I didn’t remember anything about it at all.

The restaurant was still so empty at this point that there weren’t many tables for the characters to visit so they didn’t rush at all and it wasn’t long in between visits. The first one to stop by our table was Pluto.

And not long after that, Goofy came by. We were extra excited to see Goofy since we had just drawn him at Animation Academy! When we told him that, he got really excited. DH was quick to tell Goofy that his drawing was the best and Goofy told him no, and pointed to me. I told Goofy he couldn’t make that decision without seeing the drawings, and apologized in advance about his eyes. Then I took the drawings out of my bag. When Goofy saw mine, he covered his face with his hands! After looking at DH’s drawing, he started pointing to him so I guess he changed his mind about whose was best.

We asked Goofy to sign them and this is what we got:

Aww Goof, you’re so sweet. He gave me second place. Out of two.

Goofy spent a really long time with us and was a lot of fun. He even sat down at an empty table next to us while he was signing the drawings.

Mickey was next so I right away told him what Minnie did earlier with DH. He wasn’t amused, but agreed that he and I needed a picture alone, just the two of us

Then we reluctantly let DH into the next one:

Next to visit was Donald, who got really excited about DH’s shirt and Magic Band. I forgot to mention that Mickey wasn’t a fan of his shirt, hehe.

Then Minnie came over and immediately walked up behind S and leaned on his shoulders from behind his back. I think DH was a little jealous. Oh Minnie…

So somehwere in between all of this we got a few plates of food. Apparently I didn’t take any pictures of it (sorry!) but at least be comforted by the fact that you’re not missing much. There was a really delicious braised beef that was served in it’s own separate little dish at the buffet, and that was really really yummy. Our server told us that it was their first night serving it, it was brand new. But other than that, nothing stood out as being better than okay. I know you go to restaurants like this for the experience and not the food, but it wasn’t even warm when we got back to the table, and after taking breaks from eating to meet characters, it was downright cold. So the food was just okay, borderline disappointing. But the character experience was really awesome and definitely made up for it. Dessert was decent and I did take a picture of that:

After finishing our meal, we were off to our next destination!

 

[Leshaface]

What the heck those women? I was beginning to think, maybe they were deaf? Really strange.

I thought the EXACT same thing when we went for the first time to see VotLM. Meh the first time, but awesome the 2nd time!

How rude of that person to not even say sorry or excuse me

No it didn't, did it?! They seriously closed the showcase?! I'm soooo glad we really explored it on our last trip and got a lot of pictures. That's really sad. Wonder what they're going to do with that space.

LMAO! Love the Goofy story! So cool that he signed the pictures. Such a great idea actually. Good thinking!

What a fun meal, even though the food was blegh.

 

[heathsf]

What the heck those women? I was beginning to think, maybe they were deaf? Really strange.

I thought the EXACT same thing when we went for the first time to see VotLM. Meh the first time, but awesome the 2nd time!

How rude of that person to not even say sorry or excuse me

No it didn't, did it?! They seriously closed the showcase?! I'm soooo glad we really explored it on our last trip and got a lot of pictures. That's really sad. Wonder what they're going to do with that space.

LMAO! Love the Goofy story! So cool that he signed the pictures. Such a great idea actually. Good thinking!

What a fun meal, even though the food was blegh.

Not only did the showcase close, but I just heard that The Backlot Tour is completely closed as of yesterday I would've explored every nook and cranny if I had known that at the time! And I would have re-ridden it because our seats at the back of the tram were not totally ideal for Catastrophe Canyon. I can't believe I'll never get to ride through it again

"Longterm plans for the space haven’t been announced, but for now “Frozen” attractions Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and a snow-play area will move into a building at the end of the tour, the Sentinel reported."

Maelstrom in Norway is also closing so it can be turned into a Frozen ride.

 

[Leshaface]

Not only did the showcase close, but I just heard that The Backlot Tour is completely closed as of yesterday I would've explored every nook and cranny if I had known that at the time! And I would have re-ridden it because our seats at the back of the tram were not totally ideal for Catastrophe Canyon. I can't believe I'll never get to ride through it again

"Longterm plans for the space haven’t been announced, but for now “Frozen” attractions Wandering Oaken’s Trading Post and a snow-play area will move into a building at the end of the tour, the Sentinel reported."

Maelstrom in Norway is also closing so it can be turned into a Frozen ride.

No! Not the BackLot Tour too!

You are literally the place i'm getting all my info from. Aside from the DIS, where else are you finding out about all this stuff? I hardly ever wander from my subscribed threads, so I never look at the WDW Parks board.

Anything else I should know about closures...since i'm already sad and let down, may as well get it all out now

 

[heathsf]

No! Not the BackLot Tour too!

You are literally the place i'm getting all my info from. Aside from the DIS, where else are you finding out about all this stuff? I hardly ever wander from my subscribed threads, so I never look at the WDW Parks board.

Anything else I should know about closures...since i'm already sad and let down, may as well get it all out now

LOL I don't know about any other closures going on now. Maelstrom I found out about from facebook, and Backlot Tour from Easywdw. And I haven't been following easywdw religiously like I usually do because I'm still sad about not going back for a long time. It's just too painful right now

 

[Leshaface]

I came to see if you had any updates...I refuse to go to sleep until I see an update!

....But it is 11:07 and i'm tired so I guess I must.

But just know that i'm going to be on tomorrow checking this thread religiously

 

[heathsf]

I came to see if you had any updates...I refuse to go to sleep until I see an update!

....But it is 11:07 and i'm tired so I guess I must.

But just know that i'm going to be on tomorrow checking this thread religiously

Sorry, nothing to report officially yet. Maybe in another month


I am about to post an update though!

 

[heathsf]

Episode 8​

The One with the Dole Whip​

After finishing our dinner at Chef Mickey’s we were headed to the Magic Kingdom via monorail. There is seriously no better way to travel. I wish I could take a monorail to work every day. It would probably help if I worked in Disney… sigh…

And finally…

Is there a better feeling in the world than entering the MK for the first time on a trip? I don’t think so. I was just so so so so happy. It was still the first day of my longest trip ever, I was finally in the Magic Kingdom, and that feeling that there are still so many days ahead is awesome. It felt almost like the trip would never end and it was amazing. Add to this that I hadn’t seen any of New FL yet and I was just bouncing out of my skin with excitement.

We took a bunch of photopass pictures. Do we look happy to be here?

How cute is DH?

It was 7pm and it was time for our first MK attraction. And it is one of my favorites! (And DH’s too!)

Whoever conceived of the concept for Mickey’s Philharmagic is a genius.

After the show it was time for a bathroom break. Obviously the natural choice was to find a new bathroom that I had never used before in the park. Tangled Bathrooms it is! My gosh they are GORGEOUS! The whole area outside is amazingly themed and seriously beautiful, especially at night. But the inside is just as themed and gorgeous! It is definitely my favorite bathroom in the park, and probably the world!

After the wonderful bathroom break, we got in line for one of the FP+ kiosks to make a 4th FP+. We had used three earlier in the day at DHS. And you can’t get a 4th FP+ for a ride in MK while you’re still in DHS. We were thinking we probably should’ve done this as soon as we entered the park but we didn’t even think of it right away. I don’t think it would have mattered since the most popular ones weren’t available, and I’m sure they still wouldn’t have been available if we had looked an hour earlier. But there were still plenty of things available since there are just so many attractions at MK. I didn’t write it down, but if my memory serves me correctly there was no availability for 7DMT, Princess Fairytale Hall, BTMRR, SM, or Splash. There may have been others that weren’t available but those I remember for sure.

It was 7:30 pm and we were able to book a FP+ for Buzz for 7:40. Since you can get in 5 minutes early, we waited the five minutes to scan our bands, and then 2 minutes later we were on the ride. So that was pretty convenient. The worst part was that we waited about 10-15 minutes on the kiosk line. CMs were helping people use the kiosks and they really were quite user friendly. But some people seemed to have a really hard time and spent a long time making their selections. Maybe it was just indecisiveness. It was a little annoying because if you know what to do the process takes under a minute. Hopefully soon we’ll be able to schedule these extra FP+ on the phone app instead of at the kiosk.

I stuck out my tongue to make it looks like I was concentrating really hard but you can’t even see my mouth! I didn’t take a score picture or write down who won so it probably wasn’t me! DH didn't know where the camera was, so yes, he really is concentrating that hard!

At 7:55 we went back to the FP Kiosk right next to Buzz and got a 5th FP+ for HM for 8:25 – 9:25. With a half hour to spare, we did the Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor which had a 10 minute posted wait.

I really enjoy this attraction, I think it’s hilarious and I was happy to see that there were new “acts” since my last visit three years ago. The unfortunate part of the show was that the audience participation was not great. You know how they show audience members on the screen and ask them questions and make fun of them, etc.? I don’t think a single guest they chose spoke English during this show. The person they keep putting up on the screen and picking on actually left in the middle of the show! He definitely didn’t understand English very well and was probably very confused (if not scared!) and I guess he didn’t feel comfortable staying because they went back to him and his seat was empty! One person wouldn’t answer any questions, and another person didn’t follow the instructions they gave. I felt so bad for the people who were probably very embarrassed and didn’t know what was going on, but it didn’t make for a very funny show. But don’t worry, we still collected enough laughs to power the automatic doors to let us out after the show!

When this was done it was time to use our HM FP+.

The FP+ ended up being basically useless. We got in front of about 5 people by using it. LOL oh well. MK felt pretty empty, especially for a summer night, so we weren’t going to complain! After our ghoulishly fun visit with 999 happy haunts, we stumbled upon another set of FP+ kiosks as we headed to Adventureland. We obtained a 6th FP+ for PoTC for 20 minutes from now.

Next I dragged DH on JC against his will. He declared that he hated this ride. I insisted that we had to try riding it at night and he reluctantly went along. M and S needed no convincing. There was zero wait and we walked right on. And it was awesome! OMG it is so fun at night. It just has a totally different feel. Our boat wasn’t even full which made for a comfortable ride, and we had a great skipper! I feel like I’ve been waiting a long time for a really great skipper. His jokes were so funny and they came out very naturally. He was great. And guess what? DH smiled through the entire thing. Pure Disney bliss.

Now it was time for something I’d been waiting over 4 years for. Don’t ask me why, but having my first Dole Whip was only casually on my to-do list 3 years ago. And I never got it. And it was probably my biggest regret about those 2 trips in 2011. Then DH and I were in DL a year and a half ago and I finally got one, BUT there was no option to swirl it with vanilla ice cream. I enjoyed it, but I really, really, really felt that it needed the vanilla twist. So now it was time to get serious. I NEEDED a Dole Whip on this trip. I let it be known to my traveling companions that it needed to happen tonight, and they were fully supportive. And now was the time!

(Sidenote: In Waikiki last year for our honeymoon, there was a little ice cream place across from our hotel that advertised a Dole Whip and I planned to get one later that night but I was just feeling too sick to my stomach after a huge dinner and couldn’t do it. I was devastated that I only noticed it on our last night. I searched on Maui and Kauai after that but never found one.)

Aloha, Aloha Isle! And also, my photobombing DH. He really had to jump to get into the frame, and I’ll give credit where credit is due, he timed it perfectly!

It was so worth the wait.

It was perfect. The pineapple and vanilla together were heavenly. I was in love.

DH got a plain old coke float. Lame. But he enjoyed it and was happy. Just not as happy as me.

S got a Dole Whip Float, and I don't remember if M got anything. While we were waiting in line I took a close up of his new Donald Duck shirt. I’m happy to report he still wears it all the time.

 

[kastoney]

Just finding your thread and subbing in. Great trip so far, can't wait for more...

 

[Leshaface]

I love that DH is lifting his glasses up in the photopass pic, like he's checking out the goods on Tink

So you can't make any changes or add any FP+ on the app? I really need to read up on the new rules. I remember I was able to change times and attractions from the app...but that's been a year now and it seems that much has changed.

Oh my gosh, about the guy that left during Monsters! That would have been awkward...

I've never thought about doing the JC at night. Sounds fun to me!

love the photobomb!

DH likes the Dole Whip okay, but I always forget that they have the option to swirl it with Vanilla. He'll love this!

 

[heathsf]

Just finding your thread and subbing in. Great trip so far, can't wait for more...

and thank you! It's so nice to hear that people are enjoying the TR. It means a lot to me

I love that DH is lifting his glasses up in the photopass pic, like he's checking out the goods on Tink

So you can't make any changes or add any FP+ on the app? I really need to read up on the new rules. I remember I was able to change times and attractions from the app...but that's been a year now and it seems that much has changed.

Oh my gosh, about the guy that left during Monsters! That would have been awkward...

I've never thought about doing the JC at night. Sounds fun to me!

love the photobomb!

DH likes the Dole Whip okay, but I always forget that they have the option to swirl it with Vanilla. He'll love this!

It was so so so so so good with the vanilla! I'm a swirl girl to begin with, so maybe I'm biased. I'll always get a chocolate-vanilla swirl over just chocolate or just vanilla.

Things are going to change with the app at some point. From what I've heard, the plan is to be able to add FP+ on the app in the future. Here's how it worked in August:

Making 3 original FP+ reservations: App or Kiosk
Changing time/attraction for 3 original FP+ reservations: App or Kiosk
Adding a 4th, 5th, 6th, etc. FP+ after using up the original 3: Kiosk only - one at a time
Changing time/attraction for an already booked 4th, 5th, etc.: App or Kiosk

So almost everything can be done from your phone except for making an additional reservation. And hopefully soon you'll be able to do that too from the phone.

 

[heathsf]

Episode 9​

The One Where I Don’t Want to Leave​

I have this cell phone picture that I took at some point earlier in the night and I’m not sure when, so I’m just going to post it here:

After enjoying our delicious treats it was time to ride POTC. Another classic you can’t help but love.

To decide what to do next, we consulted the MDE app and found that BTMRR only had a 20 minute wait so off to Frontierland we went. There was a line but it was moving pretty quickly. Wishes started not long after we got in line and we were able to see snippets of it from the queue. None of my pictures came out, but it was a fun way to spend our wait. I was sort of disappointed that it ended right before we got on the ride, because it would have been so awesome to watch the fireworks while riding. Put it on your to-do list people! That being said, BTMRR is another must-do at night. It was SO much more fun in the dark than it is during the day. It felt wilder to me. I mean, I know it’s the wildest ride in the wilderness, but it seemed faster and rougher. Am I crazy? I was being thrown all over the place. We had so, so, so much fun on this. All four of us were laughing through the entire thing.

At this point we realized we still hadn’t checked out any of New Fantasyland so we headed in that direction. As we walked past IASW we saw that there was basically no wait and M and I begged the boys to go on. They both made it pretty clear before the trip that they had no interest in riding this trip. I had no problem with that, but it wasn’t going to stop me from riding. We were willing to ride alone and told them so, but then S asked if they rode it with us would we not ask again for the rest of the trip. We agreed and got on line. By the way, I took this to mean that we wouldn’t ask them to ride again for the rest of the trip. I was definitely planning on taking a second trip on the happiest cruise that ever sailed.

It was pretty empty in there and we were on in no time. DH and I had our own row and so did M and S. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. As always. How could you not? I just don’t get how people don’t like the song. No, I wouldn’t want to listen to it for hours on end but it’s a beautiful song. I am a huge Sherman Brothers fan, so maybe that helps, but I think the song is brilliant and has an important and timeless message. I will say though, that I wouldn’t complain if they did an update to make it like the one in DL with the Disney characters scattered throughout.

It was finally time to explore New Fantasyland! I was so excited. And I finally got to see this with my own eyes:

M and S didn’t know, but we had a lunch FP+ for BOG the next day. I was so excited to surprise them. Beauty and the Beast is M’s favorite Disney movie which made it even more exciting.

Next we headed on to Gaston’s Tavern. It was so surreal seeing all of these things for the first time in person after looking at them in pictures in TRs and blog posts for so long leading up to this trip. I had been waiting (impatiently) for so long to finally see all these updates. And everything was so gorgeous and detailed and I loved it. I was still looking forward to seeing it all in the daylight too!

S wanted to get a soda so I went into the tavern with him. While he was ordering I took the opportunity to sit in Gaston’s chair. I’ve read it can be hard to snag that spot but we had the place to ourselves so I had to take advantage and sit there just so I could say that I did. After my tush was satisfied I walked back to S at the register. Turns out he had paid with his magic band and asked to charge it to his credit card but the CM used a snack credit instead. S noticed it on the receipt and pointed it out. The CM was apologetic and tried to call a manager to fix the mistake but wasn’t able to get one. Instead, he offered S his choice of any snack. He didn’t want anything so he asked me what I wanted. Naturally I jumped at the chance to try LeFou’s Brew.

It looked so good and I had really high hopes, but this drink just isn’t for me. It tasted like frozen apple juice which in theory sounds yummy to me, but it was too sweet. And I like sweet drinks so I’m not sure what my issue was. I really can’t put my finger on it. I felt terrible for using the snack credit on something I ended up not liking. Everyone tried it and no one really wanted to finish it. I forced myself to drink more because I felt obligated but most of it ended up in the garbage. So sad. I really wanted to like it.

We continued walking deeper into New FL until we were here.

Under the Sea - Journey of the Little Mermaid had a 10 minute posted wait time. However, it was actually the definition of a walk-on. We literally walked straight through the queue right on to the ride and never saw another guest. There were plenty of empty clams on either side of us and we found this hysterical. We were like little children, calling out to each other from our clams and making jokes about how we had so much privacy we could make out with our spouse on the ride (Don’t worry, we didn’t)

The ride was really cute and I liked it a lot. It was especially fun feeling like we had it all to ourselves.

After we exited we found a lonely photopass photographer who was very eager to take our picture. He told us where to stand and we were ready to smile and take some pictures when this woman comes up to him and asks for directions out of the park. He tried to give them to her but she cut him off to complain about how she’s been walking in circles and can’t seem to find the exit. She was clearly frustrated but lady, it’s not this photographer’s fault that you’re lost! She was very rude and he just waited patiently and let her take her frustration out on him. When she finished, he politely gave her directions and she said thanks and left. And we were like because she just wasn’t nice and he didn’t deserve that! And we told him so after she walked away. He laughed it off and said he’s used to it. We complimented his professionalism and kindness and then we finally got our picture taken.

Now it was time to explore Storybook Circus for the first time!

It was absolutely deserted, which made it pretty neat to explore at night. We checked out some treats but didn’t buy anything.

Then DH challenged himself to run through the water area without getting wet. Okay, sure, why not?

Don’t worry guys, he made it. But it took him a little while to measure the timing correctly. To be honest, I was rooting against him. The area was super cute though.

At this point these people in my travel party I call my friends (and husband) started voicing that they were tired. And for a moment I couldn’t remember why they were my friends (or husband).

Ugh.

What? It’s our first day people. How can you be tired already? I really was not ready to go. It was such a nice night and the park was empty. There was another hour before closing and I really didn’t want to leave. But on the other hand, we had done so much already in that one day. AND we had so many days still left to go. I also didn’t want everyone to hate me after only one day. I casually mentioned staying alone, but no one else liked that idea and they pointed out it was only one more hour. So I agreed we could call it a night. On the inside, I was crying though.

I requested that we pass through Tomorrowland to exit because it’s my favorite land at night.

There was a PP on the bridge.

Good night, Magic Kingdom. I’ll miss you!

(See you tomorrow!)

 

[kastoney]

What a great first day in and night MK. I'm with you. I just love tomorrowland at night. By day it isn't all that special, but it just comes to life at night. Speaking of night BTM is just so perfect. What a great idea to watch fireworks if you can, plus I'm sure less crowds. Speaking of crowds, I've always found 10 min wait on mermaid means walk on. 20 mins means 5 most of the time, since it takes 10 mins just to get through the queue.

And free lafous brew. Serious score.

 

[ariane37]

Well, good to see an update! It's been awhile..... Stupid life gets in the way, right lol?

So after all my trips I can't believe I'm asking this, but WHERE in MK is that little statue of Donald? I have never seen that, and I can't believe it!!!! Going to make a point of finding it on my next trip - in 133 days

 

[heathsf]

What a great first day in and night MK. I'm with you. I just love tomorrowland at night. By day it isn't all that special, but it just comes to life at night. Speaking of night BTM is just so perfect. What a great idea to watch fireworks if you can, plus I'm sure less crowds. Speaking of crowds, I've always found 10 min wait on mermaid means walk on. 20 mins means 5 most of the time, since it takes 10 mins just to get through the queue.

And free lafous brew. Serious score.

You're totally right about the queue for Mermaid. It really did take a long time to walk through, and I sort of wanted to take it in and see the interactive stuff, but I couldn't resist just walking through with absolutely no people in front of us whatsoever. Oh well, next time!

Is there anything better than riding the Peoplemover at night during the dance party with Tomorrowland all lit up? I don't think so...

Well, good to see an update! It's been awhile..... Stupid life gets in the way, right lol?

So after all my trips I can't believe I'm asking this, but WHERE in MK is that little statue of Donald? I have never seen that, and I can't believe it!!!! Going to make a point of finding it on my next trip - in 133 days

Life has totally been getting in the way of DISing. It's ridiculous. I need more DIS in my life! It honestly keeps me happy

Oh my gosh! Those little statues are in front of the castle! I can't believe you never noticed them. They are around the Partners statue of Walt and Mickey. Here's some perspective: http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5252/5588301963_cb771b6d55_m.jpg
You must definitely seek them out on your next trip!